Current Day Prophets!

“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.  Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.”-Acts 2:17-18

There are prophets today.  But do we listen to them?  Do we heed them?  Or do we turn away and ignore them?  Do we shame them and put them down?  Or do we honor and listen to them?

There is no doubt that it is difficult to tell the difference between a prophet and a charlatan.  And we have definitely had our share of those who claim to be prophets and prophesy that which does not come true.  However, reading the Bible will help us, for a true prophet will never contradict God’s Word.

An example would be all of those who have predicted a “definite” date for the world’s end.  And then, of course, the world does not end.  God says in the Bible that only God knows the exact day and hour, not even Jesus does!  So clearly, no prophet can tell us what is only known by God.  But we can see the warnings, because Jesus shared those with us in God’s Word. 

So clearly, we are able to test a Prophet’s words by comparing them to what God Himself says in the Bible.  There are Prophets in today’s world. We need to learn from them.

There is something else to consider as well.  Prophets may or may not speak of the future, but they do warn us of what is occurring in the present!  They warn us when we are falling away from God; they warn us of our moral failures and they warn us of our failures when it comes to serving God.  And they tell us of the Blessings of God.  All of which, if the prophet speaks the Truth, can be found in God’s Word.  The current day prophet simply reminds us to look ?

One person defined a prophet as a “Truth Teller”.  And that is as good a definition as any.  He speaks of God’s “raising up” Prophets to help us.  And that is exactly right.